STATUTE:
Chapter 20, Operation of Motorized Cycles; Subchapter 1. Motorcycles, motor-driven cycles, and motorized bicycles; Section 27-20-104 Standard equipment required . . . (b) :
"All passengers and operators of motorcycles and motor-driven cycles used upon the public streets and highways of this state shall be equipped with the following equipment under standards set forth by the Office of Motor Vehicle of the State of Arkansas:
(1) Protective headgear unless the person is twenty-one (21) years of age or older; and
(2) Protective glasses, goggles, or transparent face shields.
FINE:
If you have information about the amount of the fine for violating Arkansas's helmet law, please e-mail it to us. Thanks.
STANDARDS:
27-20-104 Standard equipment required . . . (b) :" . . . standards set forth by the Office of Motor Vehicles of the State of Arkansas . . ."
COURT DECISIONS:
"Since this section bears a reasonable, real, and substantial relation to the public health, safety, and welfare, it is constitutional as a valid exercise of the police power of the state." Penney v. City of North Little Rock, 248 Ark. 1158, 455 S.W.2d 132 (1970).
(NOTE: This decision has to do with the limited question of the State's right to impose safety regulation on individuals under the police powers, and not on the subject of unconstitutional vagueness. In other words, the definition of "protective headgear" is vague; which means the Arkansas statute requiring motorcyclists to wear "protective headgear" is vague; which means the Arkansas helmet law is unconstitutional . . . Penney v. City of North Little Rock notwithstanding.)
COMMENTARY:
From our beginning in 1993, it has been the position of the Helmet Law Defense League that all helmet laws are unconstitutional , in the absence of clear guidelines on how to comply with the statute -- like with a list of "approved helmets."
NO LIST? NO LAW! If a state, any state, cannot answer the question:
"How can a motorcyclist comply,
with certainty ,
with the provisions of the helmet law?"that state's statute(s) requiring the wearing of
a "helmet," "safety helmet," or "protective headgear"
is unconstitutionally vague.Although the Arkansas Legislature may believe that they can authorize the "Office of Motor Vehicles" to set standards for helmets, the Office of Motor Vehicles is confined, by law, to adopting only those standards established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If the Office of Motor Vehicles has exceeded its authority and adopted anything other than Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 218 -- the Federal standard for motorcycle helmets -- the Arkansas helmet law can be successfully challenged on that basis alone, and removed. (see Juvenile Products v. Edmisten , 568 F.Supp. 714 (1983))
If the Office of Motor Vehicles has adopted FMVSS 218, the Arkansas helmet law is thereby unconstitutionally vague and can be challenged on that basis, and removed. (see Washington v. Maxwell , 74 WASH.APP. 688, 878 P.2D 1220 (1994))
We believe that if you will write to the "Office of Motor Vehicles" for Arkansas and ask how to comply with the helmet law, "with certainty," you can take the answer (or, more likely, refusal to answer) to the courts, seeking declaratory relief, and Arkansas bikers can be 100% FREE of its helmet law!
INSTEAD: Arkansas is celebrating the fact that in March of 1997, they became the first state in modern times to adopt a discriminatory helmet law -- a helmet law that discriminates against adult bikers between the ages of 18-20. Worst of all, the legislation was sought and won through the efforts of ABATE of Arkansas -- a motorcyclist rights organization? Why would a rights organization seek, much less celebrate accomplishing such an end?
Are we glad for the riders who are now free to choose to or not to wear a helmet? Sure! Do we think they paid a terrible price (obtained their freedom at someone else's expense)? Yep.
Now I guess we'll see if biker principles are still alive in Arkansas. Now we'll see if the rights organizations there will persist until the helmet law is gone for ALL riders, or if ABATE will rest with this "victory."
